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List of child brides

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This is a list of child brides, women of historical significance who married under 18 years of age.

East & South Asia

=8th century=

=9th century=

=10th century=

=12th century=

=16th century=

  • Ruqaiya Sultan Begum married Akbar, her first paternal cousin, at the time of his first appointment, at the age of nine, in 1551. Akbar's marriage with Ruqaiya was solemnised near Jalandhar, Punjab, when both of them were 14 years old.

=17th century=

=18th century=

=19th century=

  • Some of the spouses of the Daoguang Emperor, which included:
  • Empress Xiaomucheng (aged 14/15) who was married to the future emperor (aged 14) in 1796.
  • Empress Xiaoshencheng (aged 16) who was married to the future emperor (aged 26) in 1809.
  • Empress Xiaoquancheng (aged 12/13) who was married to the emperor (aged 38/39) in 1821.
  • Empress Xiaojingcheng (aged 12/13) who was married to the emperor (aged 42/43) in 1825.
  • Some of the spouses of the Xianfeng Emperor, which included:
  • Empress Xiaodexian (aged 15/16) who was married to the future emperor (aged 15/16) in 1847.
  • Empress Xiaozhenxian (aged 14/15) who was married to the emperor (aged 20/21) in 1852.
  • Empress Cixi (aged 16) who was married to the emperor (aged 20) in 1852.
  • Chikako, Princess Kazu (aged 15), daughter of Emperor Ninkō, was married to Tokugawa Iemochi (aged 15) in February 1862.
  • Anandibai Joshi (aged 9) was married to Gopalrao Joshi (aged 27/28) in 1874.
  • Rukhmabai (age 11) was married in India to Dadaji Bhikaji (age 19),{{cite book|last=Lahiri|first=Shompa|title=Indians in Britain: Anglo-Indian Encounters, Race and Identity, 1880–1930|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sfGOAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA13|access-date=4 March 2014|date=2013-10-18|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781135264468|pages=13–}} a cousin of her stepfather, in about 1875. After a lengthy court battle, the marriage was dissolved by an order from Queen Victoria and the publicity helped influence the passage of the Age of Consent Act, 1891, which increased age of consent for girls in India, married or unmarried, from 10 to 12.{{cite book|last=Rappaport|first=Helen|title=Queen Victoria: A Biographical Companion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NLGhimIiFPoC&pg=PA429|access-date=4 March 2014|year=2003|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9781851093557|pages=429–}}
  • Mrinalini Devi (aged between 9 and 11) was married to Rabindranath Tagore (aged 22) in 1883.
  • Kasturba Gandhi (aged 14) was married to Mahatma Gandhi (aged 13) in May 1883.

=20th century=

Europe

From 380 A.D. to 1983 A.D., the age of majority was 21 years old in the Roman Catholic Church, which was adopted into canon law from Roman law. From 380 A.D. to 1971 A.D. the minimum marriageable age was 12 years for females and 14 years for males in the Roman Catholic Church, which was adopted into canon law from Roman law.

During the Holy Roman Empire (9th–19th centuries), age of majority was 21 years old and minimum marriageable age was 12 years for females and 14 years for males. There were some fathers who arranged marriages for a son or a daughter before he or she reached the age of maturity. Consummation would not take place until the age of maturity. Roman Catholic canon law defines a marriage as consummated when the "spouses have performed between themselves in a human fashion a conjugal act which is suitable in itself for the procreation of offspring, to which marriage is ordered by its nature and by which the spouses become one flesh."canon 1061 §1

In England and Wales, the Marriage Act 1753 required a marriage to be covered by a license (requiring parental consent for those under 21) or the publication of banns (which parents of those under 21 could forbid). The Church of England dictated that both the bride and groom must be at least 21 years of age to marry without the consent of their families; in the certificates, the most common age for the brides is 22 years. For the grooms 24 years was the most common age, with average ages of 24 years for the brides and 27 for the grooms.Laslett, Peter. 1965. The World We Have Lost. New York, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p 82 While European noblewomen often married early, they were a small minority of the population,Coontz, Stephanie. 2005. Marriage, a History: From Obedience to Intimacy, or How Love Conquered Marriage. New York, New York: Viking Press, Penguin Group Inc. p 125-129. and the marriage certificates from Canterbury show that, in England, even among nobility it was very rare to marry women off at very early ages.

In England, the minimum marriageable age was raised to 16 in 1929. Before then, the minimum marriageable age was 12 for females and 14 for males. In 1971, the age of majority was lowered to 18 years old.

The age of majority is 18 years old since 1983 A.D. and the minimum marriageable age is 14 years old for females and 16 years old for males since in 1917 A.D in the Roman Catholic Church.

=8th century=

=9th century=

=10th century=

= 11th century =

= 12th century =

= 13th century =

= 14th century =

= 15th century =

= 16th century =

= 17th century =

= 18th century =

= 19th century =

= 20th century =

Middle East

=BC: Ancient Egypt=

= 7th century =

  • Aisha (aged 6 or 7), was married to the Islamic prophet Muhammad (aged about 50) in 620 (with consummation at age 9 or 10).{{cite journal |last1=Esposito |first1=John L. |author-link1=John Esposito |title=A'ishah in the Islamic World: Past and Present |url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t243/e14 |access-date=12 November 2012 |journal=Oxford Islamic Studies Online |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180904081445/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t243/e14?_hi=2&_pos=1 |archive-date=4 September 2018 |url-status=dead |date=2004a }}{{cite book|last1=Spellberg|first1=Denise|author1-link=Denise Spellberg|title=Politics, Gender, and the Islamic Past: the Legacy of A'isha bint Abi Bakr|year=1994|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0231079990|url=https://archive.org/details/politicsgenderis0000spel|via=archive.org|url-access=subscription|page=3}}

= 14th century =

=18th century=

=19th century=

;Wives of Abdulmejid I

;Wives of Murad V

=20th century=

= 21st century =

  • Nujood Ali (aged 9) married Faez Ali Thamer (aged in his 30s) in 2008. She secured a divorce aged 10 and is an activist against child marriage in Yemen.{{Citation| last= Daragahi| first= Borzou | title= Yemeni bride, 10, says I won't | publisher= Los Angeles TimesmznfzKLDhjsd'gV

| date= June 11, 2008 | url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-jun-11-fg-childbride11-story.html | access-date= 16 February 2010}}{{Citation| last= Walt | first= Vivienne | title= A 10-Year-Old Divorcée Takes Paris | publisher= Time/CNN | date= 3 February 2009 | url= http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1876652,00.html | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090205112432/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1876652,00.html | url-status= dead | archive-date= February 5, 2009 | access-date= 16 February 2010}}

  • Reem Al Numery (aged 12) married her cousin (aged 30) in 2008. After receiving international attention from 2 suicide attempts, she was granted a divorce by a Yemeni judge in 2010.{{cite encyclopedia |last=Eltantawy |first=Nahed |date=January 9, 2013 |title=Al Numery, Reem |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Multimedia_Encyclopedia_of_Women_in/PTMTBwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22Reem+Al+Numery%22+activist&pg=PA21&printsec=frontcover |encyclopedia=The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World |publisher=SAGE Publications |page=21 |isbn=9781452270685 |access-date=March 22, 2025}}
  • Shamima Begum (aged 15) married Yago Riedijk (aged 23) in 2015. Before her marriage, she left London to join the Islamic State in Syria.{{Cite news |date=2023-02-22 |title=British-born woman who joined ISIS at 15 cannot regain her U.K. citizenship, court rules |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/shamima-begum-isis-islamic-state-british-citizenship-court-syria-rcna71728 |access-date=2024-10-25 |work=NBC News |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=2019-03-03 |title=Shamima Begum: What was life like for the IS couple in Syria? |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47435039 |access-date=2024-10-25 |work=BBC News}}

North & South America

= 17th century =

= 18th century =

= 19th century =

For the latter half of the 19th century, between 13 and 18% of native-born white female first marriages in the United States were of girls under the age of 18.{{Cite book|last1=Fitch|first1=Catherine |last2=Ruggles|first2=Steven| contribution=Historical trends in marriage formation: The United States 1850–1990|editor-last1=Waite|editor-first1=Linda J. |editor-last2=Bachrach|editor-first2=Christine|title=The Ties that Bind: Perspectives on Marriage and Cohabitation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lEb-ic22xKwC|date=2000| publisher = Transaction Publishers|access-date=11 September 2021|pages=59–88|isbn=9781412839365 |language=en}}

= 20th century =

  • Ariel Durant (aged 15) married Will Durant (aged 28) in 1913.
  • Gladys Pearl Baker (aged 15) married Jasper Newton Baker (aged 31) in 1917.
  • Frances Belle Heenan (aged 15) married New York City real estate developer Edward Browning (aged 51) in April 1926.{{Cite web|last=Little|first=Becky|title=When a Millionaire Married a Teen And Sparked Opposition to U.S. Child Marriage|url=https://www.history.com/news/child-marriage-scandal-millionaire-married-teenager|date=6 June 2018|access-date=5 December 2020|website=HISTORY|language=en}}
  • Ruchoma Shain (aged 17) married Moshe Shain in 1931.
  • Virginia Adele (aged 17) married William Jefferson Blythe Jr. (aged 17) in 1935. They divorced thirteen months later. William later remarried several times throughout his life and was the biological father of American president Bill Clinton.
  • Eunice Winstead (aged 9) married Charlie Johns (aged 22) in 1937.
  • Lois Andrews (aged 16) married George Jessel (aged 42) in 1940.
  • Marilyn Monroe (aged 16) married James Dougherty (aged 21) in June 1942.
  • Janet Leigh (aged 15) married John Carlisle (aged 18) in August 1942.
  • Loretta Webb (aged 15) married Oliver Lynn (aged 21) in January 1948.
  • Karen Black (aged 15) married Charles Black in 1954.Tauke, M.S. (May 18, 1973). [https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/265499036 "Karen Fibbed on Weddings, Investigation Here Reveals]". Journal & Courier.
  • Jill St. John (aged 16) married Neil Dubin (aged 22) in May 1957.
  • Myra Brown (aged 13) married Jerry Lee Lewis (aged 22) on December 12, 1957. The marriage was repeated June 4, 1958 because his previous divorce wasn't finalized.
  • Lana Wood (aged 16) married Jack Wrather Jr. (aged 18) in December 1962.
  • Shirley Anne Milburn (aged 15) married John Peel (aged 25) in 1965.
  • Sherry Johnson (aged 11) was compelled by her mother to marry Alfonsa Tolbert (a deacon in their church and the man who had raped and impregnated Sherry) in March 1971.
  • Rena Chynoweth (aged 16) was married to Ervil LeBaron (aged about 49) circa 1974. Chynoweth was among at least thirteen plural wives LeBaron married, many of whom were underage at the time of their marriages.
  • Xiomara Castro (aged 16) married Manuel Zelaya (aged 23) in January 1976.
  • Maria Victoria Henao (aged 15) married Pablo Escobar (aged 26) in March 1976.
  • Demi Moore (aged 17) married Freddy Moore (aged 29) in February 1980.
  • Anna Nicole Smith (aged 17) married Billy Wayne Smith (aged 16) in April 1985.
  • Milla Jovovich (aged 17) married Shawn Andrews (aged 21) in 1992.
  • Aaliyah (aged 15) illegally married R. Kelly (aged 27) in 1994.{{harvnb|Kenyatta|2002|p=25|Ref=none}}Duncan, Amy (July 18, 2017). [https://metro.co.uk/2017/07/18/the-story-of-r-kelly-and-aaliyah-from-their-secret-teenage-marriage-to-those-pregnancy-rumours-6788484/ "The story of R Kelly and Aaliyah – from their secret teenage marriage to those pregnancy rumours"]. Metro. Retrieved January 7, 2019.{{cite web|url=http://www.vibe.com/news/online_exclusives/2008/09/rkelly_day_part3/ |title=R. Kelly: Indecent Proposal |date=September 18, 2008 |work=Vibe |access-date=May 14, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201115820/http://www.vibe.com/news/online_exclusives/2008/09/rkelly_day_part3/ |archive-date=December 1, 2008 }}Ogunnaike, Lola (May 2002). [https://web.archive.org/web/20081201115820/http://www.vibe.com/news/online_exclusives/2008/09/rkelly_day_part3/ "CAUGHT IN THE ACT"]. Vibe. Retrieved January 7, 2019.{{cite news|url=https://newspapers.library.in.gov/cgi-bin/indiana?a=d&d=INR19950708-01.1.9|title=Aaliyah: Weathering the storm of controversy|date=July 8, 1995|newspaper=Indianapolis Recorder|first=Shonda|last=McClain|page=9|location=Indianapolis}}

= 21st century =

  • Merrianne Jessop (aged 12) was married to Warren Jeffs (aged 50), the president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in 2006. She was one of Jeffs many wives, several of whom were underage.{{cite web |last=Nagappa |first=Kritika |title=Those We Don't Protect: Crimes by The Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints |url=https://harvardpolitics.com/crimes-by-flds/ |website=harvardpolitics.com |publisher=Harvard Political Review |access-date=6 August 2024}}

See also

References

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{{Wedding}}

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Child brides